


It’s Okay, Kid

by RobotCryBaby



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka is the 501st little sister, Clone family, Comfort, Emotional Hurt, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Rex is the best big brother, Sibling Bonding, Space family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-12 22:37:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21483982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobotCryBaby/pseuds/RobotCryBaby
Summary: They're all just children fighting a war they never should have.
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 6
Kudos: 148





	It’s Okay, Kid

It was a difficult battle on surface of Ryloth. Again. It always seemed they were called to Ryloth or Geonosis every other cycle. Rex grumbled to himself as he removed his helmet, tucking it under his arm as he surveyed his men. What remained of them at least. The 501st had been called in to support General Luminara’s defences, tasked with keeping the Separatist armies away from the Freedom Fighters’ camps. They were delayed in reaching the surface due to the blockade around the planet, and therefore walked into an already lost battle. Severely outnumbered, outgunned, and over-run. But the 501st did what it always did, somehow pulling a victory from kriff knows where and being able to fight another day.

Kix was briskly walking alongside a floating stretcher, supporting a very whiny Jesse who had taken a blaster shot to the shin.

“I’m fine, Kix. Slag off will you? There are others who need bacta more than me!” Jesse whined.

“I would agree with you, however you are known to downplay your more serious injuries, not to mention the fact that the blaster shot completely penetrated your armor.”

“What?” Jesse attempted to sit up and take a look before being gently pushed back down by Rex, who had wandered over after hearing the commotion.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Trooper. Can see that shiny skin of yours through that armour. Now quit whining and listen to Kix.”

Jesse huffed but listened to his Captain as Kix grinned in triumph. The grin was quickly replaced with his signature concerned-scowl not a second later when his attention was moved to Rex.

“And you, don’t think I can’t tell you’re cradling that arm of yours. As soon as you’re done with the General, you get your ass in my medstation or I’ll send Ahsoka and Echo to kidnap you.” Kix turned to leave but stopped. “Actually, where is the Commander anyway? Heard she got caught with a bunch of shinies, bet she got pretty banged up just from that. You see her, you send her straight to me too.”

Kix exited towards Medbay, grumbling about “taking care of children” and “babysitting jetii” and other remarks of the like.

  
Rex smiled fondly and shook his head. His brothers were an odd bunch for sure, but force he’d do anything for them. He watched his men discard their armour and go to the fresher to wash away the grime of battle. Among the sea of identical faces it was easy to notice the striking montrals missing from the crowd. After every battle, win or lose, Ahsoka always spent time with their brothers, often going so far as to sneak away from Anakin and shirking her Jedi duties in order to do so. If she wasn’t here something was very, very wrong. 

Rex frowned, leaving the common area and made his way to her room. He pinged and the door opened automatically, revealing the dark and empty room. Jedi weren’t encouraged to have many possessions or mementos, yet a small holo stood beside her bed that her and the 501st had taken after a successful rescue mission. Everyone in the picture was smiling, with Ahsoka in the middle, her face glowing brightly.

Rex smiled fondly at the holo, recalling a late night hangout the youngling had organized several cycles ago.

____________________

_ She had managed to rig a rudimentary target shooting game she “bartered” for on their recent scouting mission. The boys were all taking turns trying to one up each other all night. Drinking ensued and everyone was laughing, finally having some down time between shooting clankers. _

_ Rex had stood off to the side of the room, enjoying just watching his brothers engage in their silly competitions. Ahsoka sidled up beside him silently. Had he not been so used to her presence and antics, he would’ve been surprised when he turned around and was face-to-face with a togruta with a devilish smile on her face. Now, it was just another part of his Commander. _

_ “Commander.” He smiled as her mischievous grin slowly dissolved into disappointment. _

_ “Awe, come on Rexer! At least pretend I snuck up on you! I’ve got a reputation to upkeep.” She crossed her arms and huffed. _

_ “ I believe your reputation will be fine. Echo still checks the vents every night before he goes to sleep.” _ __   
_   
_ __ _Ahsoka laughed. He loved it when she laughed. It was easy to forget just how young she was. How young they all were really. A bunch of children fighting a war for people who didn’t spare any of them a second thought._

_ __ _

_ “Rex….” she hesitated. “Can I show you something?” Rex nodded and they both left the ongoing chaos behind them. _

  
  


_ The door to her room swished open revealing the nearly barren living space. She bounced over to the small closet in the corner of the room, digging through few spare cloaks and clothes she kept, pulling out a small silver box. She jumped onto her bed and eagerly patted the open spot next to her. Rex laughed and joined her. _

_ “I need you to promise not to tell Skyguy or anyone about what I’m about to show you.” She looked at him very serious. Of course Rex would never say a word to anyone should she not want to, but Soka knew that. Rex gulped. If she felt the need to ask that of him, it really must be serious. _

_ Gently she opened the box, treating it almost as if it was the last kyber crystal in existence. “This. Is everything I own.” _

_ Rex felt his breath hitch. He knew that Jedi weren’t allowed to hold on to many possessions, but hadn’t thought it was that strict of a rule. _

_ Ahsoka gently removed the pieces one by one. A pressed flower from Naboo given to her by Senator Amidala. A small, smooth stone from her homeworld. A metal charm once a part of a set that had been given to her by a young girl she had saved on Corusant. A small wooden skewer from a snack food vendor that Anakin had gotten for her after training one day. She removed each piece and smiled fondly as she explained where she had gotten them. At the bottom of the box was a small disk and a data pad. _

_ “This one is my favourite.” He smiled as she pressed the small button on the disk, turning on the holo that the 501st and her had just taken on their most recent excursion. She handed him the disk and brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around herself. _

_ “Jedi aren’t supposed to have attachments to things. We’re “discouraged” from collecting or hanging onto materials that don’t have a purpose.”  _

_ Rex noticed that despite the smile she wore, her eyes were sad and tired; so different from the smile she wore in the holo, surrounded by her brothers. _

_ “Um, so yeah. Anyway,” she laughed hollowly, “I sort of got chewed out by a few of the council once they saw me trying to smuggle this cool necklace I had found in the rubble on Onderon back to the ship. They told me to get rid of anything else I had. This sentimentality brought up a whole other can of worms that lead to  _ another _ lecture about getting attached to my men and the 501st and my master and basically I have triple the meditation lessons with Master Yoda from now on.” She was ranting, and clearly distraught. Rex put his arm around her and pulled her close.  _

_ “Could you hold on to these for me, Rex?” _

_ “O’course.” He smiled at her. _

_ “I know you guys aren’t supposed to have these sort of stuff either, but even if you could just hide it somewhere on the ship?” She looked at him hopefully, as if he held her heart is his hands. _

_ “O’course, little-un. I’ll take better care of it than I do my own blaster!” He joked, finally bringing laughter out of the little Jedi. She removed the data pad from the box and slipped it into her pocket before handing the box to Rex. _

_ “Thanks, Rexer. Now, enough with this sappy stuff, I need to get back there in case Echo beat my high score!” _

_____________________

The smile on Rex’s face faded as he came back from his fond memory. Not wanting to search the entire ship all night, he commed R2 and asked for her location.

He made his way towards the quieter part of the ship, an old and nearly forgotten small observation deck on one of the lower levels. Ahsoka had told him of this place once, good for meditation and getting away from Kix apparently.

Ahsoka was leaning against the window, watching as the stars zoomed by her. Even from the far side of the room, Rex could see a large bruise on her left montral and burns along her arm. She was nose deep in the data pad in front of her and crying silently, clearly unaware of the Clone approaching. He made sure to make noise as he approached behind her so as not to startle her. Taking a Jedi by surprise was often the last thing anyone did, so it was best to be safe.

She turned towards him sharply, wiping away the trail of tears on her cheek before plastering a smile on her face.

“Hey Rexer! What are you doing here? Refresher too packed?” she joked.

“Nah, just hiding from Kix’s mother-henning for a while.” he joked back, though he never smiled.

She hummed and turned back towards the window.

“General Kenobi got you doing reports already?” He asked as he gingerly sat down next to her, his knees gently knocking against hers.

“No, it’s…” she hesitated. “Here, just promise to not get mad at me.” She handed him the data pad.

At quick glance it appeared to only be a list, which made Rex confused as to why she would think that would make him upset. But upon closer inspection, it was not just a random list, but a list of the names and numbers of all the troopers they had lost in the 501st since Ahsoka had joined them. 

Every trooper was listed by their name, with their numbers off to the side, almost as an after-thought. Some shinies, unfortunately, had marched on before they had been given a name from the Vode, in these instances the space was left blank. The newest six troopers were these blanks spaces.

He read the list in its entirety before looking up at the young togruta in front of him. She was staring at him as tears silently streamed down her face, a look in her eyes that no child should have.

“Ahsoka-”

“It’s a list of all of our ...your brothers, who I failed. All the people who I led into battle only to have them killed.” she started crying harder.

Rex quickly pulled her into a tight embrace, placing the data pad on the ground beside them. “Hey, hey. None of that now. I’m just as responsible, even more so I’d reckon.”

“No, Rex. I’m the Commander, and I’m a bad one at that. Maybe if I’d never have been assigned as Master Skywalker’s padawan, then you would be Commander like you should have been from the beginning, then maybe all those men would still be here! And the fact that I’m here bawling my kriffing eyes out instead of meditating or the other bantha crap Yoda keeps hounding me about, shows I’m not a good Jedi either!.”

She buried her face into Rex’s chest plate. Rex began to gently pat her head, mindful to avoid the bruises.

“I see you all as my brothers. But Jedi aren’t supposed to have attachments like that. But even if we were, my colossal failure as a Commander and all the lives I’ve cost would never make me worthy of being your family anyway!”

Rex was used to consoling his brothers after battles, being a Captain and an older Vode it came with the territory. But he knew nothing of being a Jedi. And he knew nothing about having so much responsibility as such a young age, only that it was unfair.

“They were so young, Rex. They hadn’t been in battle for long, if at all until now. Nothing I did seemed to make a difference. We were cornered and we fought and fought and there was so many of them around us. I wasn’t fast enough or strong enough. I should’ve never brought them with me to infiltrate that data centre.” she was breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath. “They were just kids, Rex.”

“So are you kid…..we all are. We’ve all had to grow up too fast because of this karking war.” He gently rocked her in his arms. “I don’t know anything about what makes a good Jedi, but I know you. I know you fought tooth and nail for those men and did everything you could. It never gets easier, losing brothers. And they are your brothers. We all love having our little sister around. Most of us only find a reason to smile with you around. And I think I speak for all of them when I say, we’d never want to serve under a better Commander.”

She sniffled and she twisted to look up at Rex.

“I don’t know what makes a good Jedi. Frankly, from what I do know of the rules, I’d say they’ve all got it pretty backwards. But that stays between you and me.” He leaned back, holding onto her shoulders, a serious expression on his face as he looked in her eyes.

“I don’t know what makes a good Jedi. But, I do know what makes a good man. And you, Ahsoka, are one of the best in the whole galaxy, and maybe further. I’ve never seen someone care so much, have such an open heart, and give so much to others. So, don’t worry about what you think being a “good Jedi” or “good Commander” is. Just be Ahsoka, the fiery little togruta that terrorizes her brothers and always has her family’s backs.”

He smiled softly, tears welling up in his eyes as she smiled up at him. They sat there for a moment, holding each other. Two siblings supporting the other in a crazy messed up galaxy, holding onto a moment of peace.

“I bet we both make it out of this war and grow old. Maybe I’d even grow a beard.” He hummed teasingly.

She snorted in amusement before pulling away to examine his face. “No, you’d look horrible with a beard.”

“Why! General Kenobi has one!” He huffed.

“Yeah but he’s sad and can pull it off. Plus I doubt you could even grow a beard if you tried, Rexer.” She patted his cheek.

“After this war I’m gonna grow a beard just so you admit that you’re wrong, you little  _ nuh’la jetii _ .” 

She stuck her tongue out at him mockingly. “Me admitting you’re right is as likely as me leaving the Order.” she laughed.

“Hey, I can be right sometimes!” he laughed, Ahsoka joining him. “Hey, you think the General will be needing you anytime soon?” He asked, a twinkle of an idea in his eye.

“Doubt it, but even if he did, I don’t think I could handle  _ another _ lecture right now.” she raised an eyebrow, sensing the Clone had a plan up his sleeve.

“Come on then, got something to show ya.” He led her back down to the barracks, arm wrapped around her shoulder. He could tell that Ahsoka was feeling better, but he knew that this would make every other worry disappear as well. At least for the night.

They walked into the barracks to see most of the 501st milling about and getting ready for bed, goofing off, or just relaxing. Echo was the first to notice the two enter and ran over to the young jedi.

“Hey, where were you! We were looking everywhere for you! You owe me a rematch in Hoth Racer III!” 

“Not now, Echo. Right now we have a mission to do.” Rex announced, earning several groans from the relaxing troopers in the near vicinity. “Operation  _ yaim’la _ .”

Echo’s eyes lit up at the phrase. “I’ll go get my box right now! Mines the best anyway!” He winked at Ahsoka before bounding off and producing a small metal box from some hidden compartment near his sleeping area.

Soon an entire group of troopers had piled themselves into one of the corners of the barracks, having stuffed all their blankets and pillows in a comfort cluster. Ahsoka was squished between Fives and an already asleep Jesse as she chatted with her brothers animatedly, reminiscing about their “childhoods”, coming up with new prank ideas to play on the General and taking turns showing off all their little mementos they have collected over the years, all hidden away and kept secret except from each other. Rex at some point had produced the box Ahsoka had given him so she could have a turn excitedly sharing her things with her brothers.

Rex felt as though he could finally be at peace, surrounded by his strange family. And by the ghost of a smile that still lingered on Ahsoka’s sleeping face, she was too.

_____________________________

The peace couldn’t last. And every day things seemed to get darker. 

Ahsoka was abandoned by the Order, so she left.

His brothers turned on their Jedi and the Republic fell. Rex was forced to go underground, working with Rebels and searching for any other brothers who had escaped.

Rex would often look at himself in the mirror, inspecting the beard he now wore on his face, and be reminded of his little sister. He would pray to whatever god was at work in this messed up galaxy, that somehow she had survived and was out there.

He was aboard the Ghost, cleaning some of the equipment with Ezra when he heard the docking door open. They were finally to meet the elusive Fulcrum.

A togruta with long montrals and lekku stepped into the light. Her eyes were old and hardened by the things she had seen. Her sharp yet thoughtful gaze swept the ship and landed on a familiar sight, immediately bringing light into her features.

Rex, now smiling ear to ear, stepped towards her. She was now as tall as he was, no longer the kid he once knew.

“You look old, Rexer.” she jided.

He smirked. “So do you….we both do.”

She smiled and stepped closer to him, inspecting his face. He clasped a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “Told you I could grow a beard.”

She smiled and it was as though 40 years melted away and they were the young jedi and captain once again. “It looks good on you.” She enveloped him in a large hug. “Though I think Obi-wan still wore it better.” she teased.

Rex snorted as he pulled back from the embrace. He was back with his family, and he felt a little light crept back into the galaxy.

**Author's Note:**

> *nuh'la - funny, foolish, amusing
> 
> *yaim’la - family, home


End file.
